


Garlic Knots Make Everything Better

by goodmanperfectsoldier



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Awkward Dates, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Minor Sharon Carter/Natasha Romanov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 23:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18487051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodmanperfectsoldier/pseuds/goodmanperfectsoldier
Summary: Prompt from @HellWrites on Twitter: "My date and your date are exes. They're fighting in the restaurant. More wine?"





	Garlic Knots Make Everything Better

“So, Sharon,” Steve says, hoping he doesn’t sounds as awkward as he feels. “Your profile said you do…contract work?” Steve isn’t entirely sure how he and Sharon matched on the website, given how little information she’d shared on it. But the lack of info had been a smaller red flag than most profiles had, and Steve was tired of his friends bugging him to go on a date, so he’d agreed to meet her in a very popular pizza place in an entirely different neighborhood from where he lives. They’re about halfway through dinner already, and it’s going...okay. They haven’t exactly hit it off, but nothing awful has come up, either.

Sharon hasn’t turned out to be a fascist, which is more than Steve can say about the last person he met online, so. That’s good.

“Yeah, I can’t…” She trails off, and Steve looks up from dipping a garlic knot in marinara sauce to find her staring over his shoulder, looking hurt. Steve glances over but doesn’t see anything unusual—a couple, a redhead and a broad brunet with his hair pulled back, is standing at the door, scoping for a table, but Steve doesn’t notice anything weird about them. Apparently Sharon does, though, because she’s more focused on them than she has been on Steve so far.

“Sharon?” Steve asks, after another moment of staring.

“Yeah, I’m...I’m sorry,” Sharon says, without looking at him. “Give me a second.” And then, before Steve can say anything, Sharon gets up from the table and walks past him. Steve turns in his chair to watch her march right up to the couple by the door. He can’t quite hear what’s going on—his hearing aids aren’t the best for long-range listening, and the restaurant is loud—but she addresses the redhead woman, and whatever she says makes the brunet take a step back, alarmed.

Steve can’t see Sharon’s face, and only part of the redhead’s, so he’s not sure what’s going on. Sharon is making a lot of wild hand gestures, though, and after a minute, she sticks a pointed finger in the brunet guy’s direction, nearly poking him in the chest. He takes another step back, wincing, throwing one hand up—which is when Steve notices that the guy actually only has one, the opposite sleeve rolled and pinned just below his shoulder. The guy glances back at the door and then scans the room, looking for an escape, just as the redhead reaches out for Sharon’s shoulders. And then, somehow, whatever fight the two women were having is over, and instead, they’re kissing each other fiercely.

Steve’s about to look away—whatever, not like this date was going particularly well anyway—when the brunet’s eyes catch on him. The guy still looks vaguely alarmed, and Steve decides that just won’t do. He’s cute, with a kind face, and he came here to have a date and deserves to finish one. Even if it’s not with the person he intended. Steve makes eye contact, twitches his head in Sharon’s direction, then shrugs, like, _What can you do?_ He gets a half-smile in return, and that’s enough to make him wave the guy over.

Sharon and the redhead are now locked in a passionate embrace, seemingly oblivious to what anyone else is doing, much less their former dates, so the guy gives a shrug of his own and makes his way through the tables to drop down in the seat across from Steve.

He’s even cuter up close, wow. Exactly the sort of guy Steve would’ve hoped to match with online. Brown hair, of course, lovely blue eyes, lips that are just ridiculously soft-looking, so much so that’s it’s unfair, honestly. Steve could see from across the room that he was tall and broad but up close, Steve can actually make out the muscle definition in his bicep through the fabric of the henley he’s wearing. It kind of makes Steve’s mouth water.

“Hi,” Steve says, in the interest of heading that off. “I’m Steve.” He waves instead of putting his hand out to shake and hopes that doesn’t seem rude. The guy waves back, though.

“Bucky,” he says. “Thanks for letting me sit with you. I can’t believe my date is...now getting asked to take her making out somewhere private. Without me, you know, being the one she’s kissing.” Steve glances over his shoulder again—sure enough, it appears that Sharon and the redhead are being asked politely yet firmly to leave. Steve can’t help himself. He looks down into this garlic knots and snickers.

“I’m sorry,” Steve says. “I don’t mean to be rude. Just, that was my date, too, the blonde. And honestly, I can’t say I’m upset.”

“Really?” Bucky asks. He doesn’t look upset at all, Steve notices. “Wasn’t going well?”

“She’s just...not my type, I guess,” Steve says. Steve’s likes to think he’s not terribly picky but he is, probably. Although he doesn’t see why _anyone_ would want to date someone who looked like she might be his sister, either.

“Oh,” Bucky says. “So what _is_ your type, then?” Steve hopes he’s not imagining the glint in his eye, the sly edge to his voice.

“Hmm,” Steve says, taking a long look across the table, lips curling up into a smirk. “I usually prefer men, for one. Tall, dark hair, pretty eyes.” Bucky returns his level gaze like it’s a challenge, which, it kind of is. “What about you? You like redheads?” Steve adds.

“Nah,” Bucky answers, easy. He still hasn’t broken eye contact and it’s enough to make Steve want to shiver. “Nat was just a friend, really. Personally, I like blondes. Blond men. _Cute_ blond men.” He grins, then, and Steve returns it.

“I’m a cute blond man,” Steve says, with affected nonchalance.

“I noticed,” Bucky says, in the same tone.

“I like you,” Steve laughs. “You wanna be my new date?”

Bucky laughs, too, warmly. “Do I get a garlic knot?” Steve pretends to consider this, then holds one out with a smile. Bucky takes it and says, “I'll do it.”

Before the end of the night, Steve deletes his online dating profile. But not before sending Sharon a thank you note.

**Author's Note:**

> \- thanks again to [aka_spacedog](https://twitter.com/aka_spacedog) for the quick beta read and kind comments!  
> \- don't forget that I've declared 2019 the Year of Self-Indulgence! NO SHAME, WE SELF-INDULGE LIKE MEN #indulgeyoself2k19  
> \- check me out on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/softestbuck) for, frankly, a bunch of nonsense


End file.
